Several conventional methods exist for establishing an employment relationship between an employer and an employee. One such common method includes an employer conducting its own employln this method, the employer collects résumés of prospective employees, conducts interviews and eventually hires an employee. ee search itself or through its own human resources department.
In an alternative method of hiring an employee, an employer may outsource part of the hiring process, for example, to an employment recruiter. The employment recruiter initially posts a job opening, collects résumés from prospective employees, and conducts initial interviews of the prospective employee. The recruiter then recommends a prospective employee to one of its client, i.e., the prospective employer, who then makes the final decision as to whether to hire the prospective employee.
In yet another employee hiring method, a party wishing to fill a position may use a temporary agency to staff its temporary needs. In this relationship, the temporary agency first hires employees. Then, the temporary agency uses its employees to staff positions with the temporary agency's clients. Thus, in this employment placement method, when one of the clients of the temporary agency has a staffing need, the temporary agency staffs the client with one of the temporary agency's employees.
With regard to any of the aforementioned hiring methods, often, during the hiring process, one may review the résumé of a prospective employee and even interview that prospective employee, which, at the time, the prospective employee does not meet the current criteria of the party with the hiring need. However, in the future, that prospective employee could be someone the hiring party may wish to hire. In addition, as time passes, it is likely that the prospective employee who currently does not meets ones staffing needs will acquire additional skills and work experience, making that prospective employee even more desirable to be hired in the future. Unfortunately, current hiring methods do not allow or encourage a prospective employer to maintain a relationship with a prospective employee who the prospective employer does not wish to currently hire, or for a prospective employer to track the employment of a prospective employee who the prospective employer may wish to hire in the future.
Further, prior methods do not permit an employer to follow the employment of an employee after the employee ceases to be employed by the employer. For example, employees leave employers either voluntarily or involuntarily, often, leaving on good terms, and are considered good employees by the employers. An employee may leave to explore other career opportunities or the employer may no longer have a need for the position which the employee filled. However, in the future, the position may re-open or a different position may open requiring skills which the former employee has since acquired after leaving the company. Unfortunately, current hiring methods do not encourage the former employer to formally track the employment history of an employee after the employee is no longer employed, i.e., after the employee leaves, voluntarily or involuntarily.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a new and improved method for maintaining contact with former employees and prospective employees and for tracking their work experiences and skills perpetually being acquired.